The Terminator: A New Mission
by zzetta13
Summary: Throw away the history books, at least starting from the late 20th Century. Events of the world keep changing so why try to chronical anything? The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make.
1. Chapter 1

_**The Terminator: A New Mission**_

_**Part 1**_

_****************** Fishing ******************_

"Here we go...here we go again,"...the soldier whispered to himself.

He was alone. It was only him, no one else. He liked it that way. He preferred to take these little excursions by himself. They helped him to clear his mind, returned his focus onto what was real, what was now. They also helped him, in some manner, to relinquish the past. There were things that he didn't wish to remember.

Being alone also meant that he wasn't responsible. He wasn't putting anyone else at risk. He had been cautioned several times by those who knew him that he was jeopardizing so much. Maybe even humanity's existence. Still, he felt that it was his destiny.

It was dangerous enough being out here even, with other soldiers. However, executing a patrol without back-up seemed insane. Still, in his own mind he felt that it was worth it. And, he didn't need the extra burden of having to look after others while rummaging through the ruins of what used to be Los Angeles.

"Old LA" that's what people called it when they were referring to this city in the past. Now they called it _Apox-LA_ or _Dead LA_ or just plain, _the Dump_. Whichever term was used they all seemed to fit the city as it was now. It was a desolate place, a lonely place, a place that was the perfect hunting ground for the machines. They seemed to wallow over the fact that, something which had taken humans a span of time to build...had been reduced by them to charred buildings and blackened neighborhoods in less than a day. It seemed as proof of their superiority.

Anyway, he brought himself back to reality. He knew that he could be discovered by HKs at any time...or worse the "T-Stalkers" (_those lone assassins that prowled the cities searching for single targets or small groups of survivors_). Yes, people caught by those metal MFers didn't stand a chance. Especially if they were found out in the open.

The machines didn't have a name for what that was called..._terminators hunting people_. However, the Resistance did. They called it "_Fishing_". When a terminator was out roaming the rubble of some big city or town looking for targets the Resistance called it "fishing" (_Like when people used to take their boats out on the lake and catch as many of those swimming creatures as they could_). Anyway, nowadays the "Stalkers" were having a harder time finding their prey, their fish.

_***************** The Past**_ ****************

After the bombs had fallen (and the smoke cleared), "fishing" used to be pretty easy for those metal bastards. Hell, they didn't even have to have fake skin. They could just go out and blow people away like shooting fish in a barrel, excuse the pun.

However, as time advanced survivors (those who'd lived through the holocaust), had learned how to hide. Then the body-count began to go down.

People found concealment...and, they also learned how to fight back. That was how the "Resistance" was born. That's when the human army came into existence. A group of survivors came together and formed a coalition...and it wasn't only in LA; it was all over the country, all over the world.

Humans weren't running anymore. They were standing their ground, returning fire. We became a threat.

_Skynet_ had to do something. This wasn't going to be as easy as once considered. So, the power over the machines got clever. They developed an outer casing to encapsulate their metal killers...rubber skin that was molded around terminators to make them look human. It was like putting out duck decoys.

Anyway, that worked for the killer machines for a while, but after a time it became easy to spot them. The Resistance started dusting these terminators as well. It became almost like a chess game. They (Skynet) would make a move, and then we (the human Resistance) would counter that move. And then finally, we were making our own moves. We were becoming more aggressive. Now Skynet was on the defense as much as they were on the attack. A balance had been reached, but there had been no truce.

The terminators, the HKs, and every other configuration that could be concocted by _Skynet_ were still trying to kill us. That was their mission, their goal. Exterminate the human race. Well, maybe not all of us, they still desired a slave cast, a small group of people that they could control and manipulate. But the rest of us were to be sacrificed. That's where I come in. I was one of the living, a soldier, a fighter, a survivor of..._Scorched Earth_.

***************** _**Scorched Earth **_*****************

That had been the plan, the scheme of the machines.

Torch the world, set it on fire so that there would be no place to live, nothing to eat. That's how they drove us out of our holes (we were starving). It's also how they planned to extinguish us, get rid of humankind. And it wasn't a new idea, or even their own. They had actually learned from us. That was one of the ways we used to kill each other. The machines were only doing what they knew. What we had done to ourselves for centuries. We had taught them, now they were teaching us.

It had been considered...what if they had won? What if the machines had succeeded in wiping out humanity? What were their plans next (after taking over the world)? Well, that was anybody's guess. Maybe rocket out into space. Take over the solar system, the galaxy...who knows. The thing of it was...that they were going to have to get past us first. And they weren't doing so well at that.

Me? My job was to see that it didn't happen. I had thirty notches on my belt (_that was a joke. I really hadn't killed thirty terminators...it was just my way of keeping my sense of humor. I had to do something to retain my sanity_).

Anyway, to continue...

_****************** Notches **************** **_

The soldier had jumped behind a pile of rubble when the "T-Stalker" had detected movement. The terminator swung its weapons around and began to pulverize a pile of stone that was next to a building. The big stone blocks turned it into fragments. However, the soldier had seen the bastard coming, so he had taken shelter.

The T-Stalker had opened up with its M134G minigun. The rounds tore through the rubble like it was Swiss-cheese. The T-600 blasted the position for a full minute before the cloud of dust obscured its view. It stopped firing. It waited until the debris began to settle and the way looked safe.

(_If anything these machines weren't dumb. They weren't smart either but they weren't stupid. They had learned to be cautious_).

The T-600 watched as the cloud of particles floated down and came to rest on the thick pile of stone. It waited until it could scan the area and check for movement. It found none. Again it continued its march forward through the chaos of the street.

That was when I checked myself. I was Okay but I dare not move. The terminator might become aware. Although I couldn't see the Stalker (at this time) I could hear the creepy sound of the machine as it came closer. With each step the noise of the gears and hydraulics could be heard. It was really weird and also, it was one of the things that would freak some people out.

The noise that an approaching terminator makes was enough to drive some people into panic. They would go insane and make a mistake, and if you did that, you were dead.

I waited, listening to it get closer. I even held my breath as much as I could. The Stalker stopped. It was hesitant, but then it stepped past the pile of bricks and into my view. It saw movement.

The sound was deafening, its guns blazed away. There, I was blown to pieces. There was a loud crashing and then I came to the ground. The terminator ceased. It took its fingers off the triggers and silenced its weapons. It stood grinning. I think the locals called this one "Smiley". It always seemed to have that eerie look of happiness on its face (but didn't they all). It bent forward to get a better view of its handiwork. Then it seemed confused, unable to comprehend. That's when I chose to make my move.

I stepped from an archway on the opposite side of the street. I strolled right up behind the T-600. I raised my plasma pistol to the back of its head and then I squeezed off a round. Old "Smiley" tumbled forward like a sack of rocks. A clear, round hole fused straight threw his head.

What the terminator had actually seen was the mirror I'd strung up in the shadows of the archway that was on the opposite side. I had positioned myself so that my reflection could be seen and then I had thrown a rock to get its attention. It was an old trick; an aged folly taught to me by one of the seasoned troopers I'd befriended. It was used to get the drop on those buggers, and it worked.

_(Hang a mirror, piece of window glass, something made of shiny chrome or anything that would reflect your image. Then get out of the way. The terminators would see movement and would shred whatever was hanging to pieces. They weren't programed to be able to tell real from a reflection_)

Anyway, at that point you could walk up behind the asshole and take him out. It was called it "Baiting", and I had just baited this guy.

I looked down at the thing that had attempted to kill me. Now I grinned.

"I guess that you didn't know that breaking a mirror merits you seven years of bad luck. Of course in this case you didn't even last seven minutes." I was a bit of a smart ass, I admit it.

Anyway another one bites the dust. I actually did add a notch to my belt. 31...

End part 1


	2. Chapter 2

_**The Terminator: A New Mission**_

_**Part 2**_

_*********** A Message from the Past ***********_

_-He had dodged several HKs before getting here, a location that was within the city Los Angeles. It was strange, but it was almost like he'd been directed here, brought here by a feeling in his gut. There was something that he knew he was supposed to be looking for, but what? He was sure that when he found it...it would become obvious_.

_Through his eyes_...

I was in a building in the north side of the city. It was dilapidated, bombed-out and the room I was standing in was really a wreck. Three of the four walls were still up, marred and charred but still standing. The fourth was gone, completely blown down by an explosion of some sort. And the roof, well it had collapsed down so that what was once above, was something that now I was having to step over.

There was old equipment about too, here and there. It looked to be transmitters/radios and other things, but it was all mangled and scarred and there were wires hanging out.

There had been some kind of engagement here, some sort of battle...a defense maybe? When had it happened, I didn't know. Why...I wasn't sure of that either. However, whoever had been holding this position, well it looked as if they hadn't left alive.

The place showed much evidence of being overrun by Terminators, or maybe even hit by HKs. I really couldn't tell...the devastation had been so complete. Still, there were no bodies and no bones. Of course that wasn't surprising.

(_Scavenging animals had likely carried anything they could find away. Not only humans, but the beasts of our world were starving too_. _I had seen a pack of wolves once, fighting over a human skull_).

Looking around I surmised that this area, at some point, could have been a "Resistance Safe House", and maybe a covert operation within the city. It didn't seem to have been a major hub mind you, but rather an outpost of some sort...front-line eyes for HQ, my estimation.

There were some old metal cabinets hanging on the walls, scratched and dirty. I was sure that in them I would find nothing. Still, I needed to look. I opened one. I was wrong. _There was_ something inside. I found spider webs, dust, and some kind of God awful smell that I could not identify. I nearly gagged. _Note to self: make sure to hold your breath next time you open one of these things_.

Anyway, I turn around and continued my evaluation of this dump. There were some old maps fastened to the walls too. Aged, tattered and torn, with holes and pieces missing.

(_They were maps from a time that may never have been seen by the younger generation of our race. Those who'd been born into this world of hell after the war._ _Young people may find these maps and wouldn't be able to point out Texas from California, Mexico from Europe, or even Africa from Australia_).

It was sad how the history of our planet, our future kept changing.

It was then that I spotted something. There was something writing on one of the maps. It was an old map, wrinkled and yellowed (a map of the City of LA). Written on it was the words "YOU ARE HERE"...and there was an arrow pointing to the spot that I now found myself standing. However, the words "YOU ARE" had been scratched out. There was something else written in their place. It read... "LOOK BEHIND". Taking another look at the writing, now it actually read "LOOK BEHIND HERE". It was a message, a message from the past. Was this what I was supposed to find? Was this what I had felt destined to come alone into the city for?

At this point I was only a Captain in the _Tech-Com Unit, Pacific Branch_. However, with much of our leadership destroyed in a major battle back some time ago (_Terminator-Salvation_), I was moving up through the ranks. I was high on the list of qualified officers who seemed able to assume command. I wasn't sure if I actually wanted the job, but if voted in, you pretty much can't refuse. Besides, we needed a leader. The human race was vulnerable without one, and the full Resistance Army was under the Authority of Pacific Command.

Looking at the message I wondered if it were a trap. Then considered..._Terminators don't leave traps. Not like this. They didn't have to. The ghoulish bastards preferred to be looking you in the eyes when they saw the life drain out of you_.

I cautiously pinched the lower edge of the map and raised it to look behind...bricks, nothing but plain old bricks. Had this been a farce? Then looking closer I noticed that one of the bricks kind of stood out from the others. It wasn't flush with the wall. I took my fingers and pulled on it, it wiggled a bit. I completely pulled the brick free. Behind I found a cavity, a hole with an old, crusty manila envelope inside, one of those big ones. I pulled it out. It had some weight to it so I was sure that it held something important. I opened it...

"Documents...?"

I pulled the papers free. There must have been about twenty of them. The top one read...

"_If you're reading this then I'm sure that you are a smart individual..._,"

I wasn't going to argue with that.

"..._and too, you're likely as confused as hell. But I have a mission for you, a new mission. It's something I feel that you'll want to do. Something that may not help to save the world, but then again, it may. My advice right now is for you to find a safe and secure place before continuing to examine these. If you're still standing where you found them then you're not as smart as I first have given you credit for. DON'T DISAPPOINT ME. Stay resilient and keep fighting. Keep resisting._

It was signed..._ JC. _

"_Jesus Christ...," _I spoke softly.

I held the papers and my hands began to shake. No, it wasn't a message from Jesus. It was a message from John Conner, a message from the past, a message from me.

At that moment I heard the sound of an HK approaching. I know that it hadn't detected me,...not yet. I decided to take my own advice and get myself outta there.

End Part 2


	3. Chapter 3

_**The Terminator: A New Mission**_

_**Part 3**_

_************ Unexpected Occurrence ************_

John Conner stealthy made his way through the bombed-out ruins of LA. He was headed back towards HQ, or at least the "Resistance" front lines.

After he had retreated from the "ops building", (_where he had discovered a secret message that apparently he had left for himself_), Conner had watched as an HK had arrived on scene. It had fired its heavy weapons onto the already bombed-out shelter, destroying it near completely.

How had it known that that particular building had been a significant target? How had it become aware that he'd been in there? Had it sensed him? The answer to those questions remained unknown. Maybe there had been some kind of enhancements made to the Hunter-Killers? Skynet was always making upgrades to its machines. However, as did they (make improvements), so did we.

John Conner would check with members of his team, once he returned to the underground bunker. He would see if they were aware of any improvements. Still, in the meantime the Tech Officer had watched as the HK had felled two more walls of the building. And then it had left, leaving little standing in its wake.

John began to think, "_Maybe it had been fate which had brought him here? Maybe it was his destiny? It did seem that he had been here before, not only at this location but also at others. It was cruel providence to have to relive a new future every time something in his past failed to become realized. Like an old record his mother used to play that skipped. It returned to the same tune over and over again. There seemed to be something resetting human history._"

(_As a child John had never considered his fate or destiny. What child does? But it had become obvious that those events did exist. He couldn't explain it but how else could he have been able to recover a secret message he'd left for himself some time ago? No, there were other forces at work here, forces that did not make sense or that he didn't understand, but they were real)_

John had a sense that he, in a manner of speaking, had traveled this road before. Maybe many times, so there had to be _Time-Travel_. It was so unbelievable and yet, who would have believed that back in late 20th century the intelligent minds of our nation would be able to create an artificial-entity that could think for itself, and then ultimately try to kill us all? Eliminating humanity from the face of the earth, forever?

It had been good that he was able to retrieve the documents hidden in the wall. He had glanced quickly at the remaining pages that were under the top one. It all looked like gibberish to him. It seemed to have been formatted with some kind of code. That was a good thing. However, he was hoping that his past self hadn't created an encryption too difficult to decipher.

Anyway, it was time to get these babies back and into the hands of the code-breakers. Maybe they could make sense out of what he'd found.

Conner had backtracked about seven-tenths of a mile whenever he heard voices. He halted, and then slipped into a pile of rubble in which he knew would camouflage him well enough...And then he waited.

(_there was still a considerable distance to travel before he would reach the concealment tunnel which led to the RA's *Resistance Army's, front line_).

John perked his ears. The voices he heard weren't whispers, but they weren't loud either. However he could tell that they were male and their tones were low. This told him that they were attempting not to be discovered.

In short they were right in front of him, two men. They had come around a pile of rubble and right into his line of sight. He eased his plasma rife up onto his shoulder.

One of the fellows was a big guy, very muscular, clean shaven and quite healthy. The other was a little smaller. He was dirty, unshaven, and seemed to be injured. The big guy seemed to be garbed in some kind of uniform. It was torn, dirty and very much worn. He was assisting the smaller guy as the two were shoulder to shoulder with the larger Man's left arm was around the smaller's waist. The injured fellow was hobbling a bit. His right leg, below the knee, was all bloody and his pants leg was shredded. It was obvious that he was in some pain.

Conner debated whether to reveal himself, or just let the two go by? Should he give aide, or let them stroll past him unnoticed? His mission was important. It was certain that the documents he carried could make a difference. However, John was human and they were human and so, helping is what humans do. He stood, his weapon aimed at the strangers.

"HALT...FRIEND OR MACHINE...?"

The two stopped in mid-step. They were startled and petrified.

There was a moment where nothing was said. And then the smaller one spoke.

"Friend, what do you think?"

John maintained his expression of indifference. He looked over towards the bigger guy.

"OK you then...What's the capital of Washington D. C.?"

The guy looked at him.

"What...? It's Washington of course."

Conner returned his gaze to the smaller one.

"OK you now..."

"How many dozen fish are in a bucket of twelve?"

_John knew that these questions were silly and redundant. However, that was one way to outsmart a machine. They were programmed to respond logically. Asking them something stupid was like throwing them a curve ball. They became confused_.

The guy thought a moment.

"Is that twelve buckets or just one?"

The Resistance Tech Officer lowered his weapon.

"Alright you passed. Anyway, what's going on here?"

The two men could see the red armband of the resistance on John's arm. They set about explaining themselves.

End Part 3


	4. Chapter 4

_**The Terminator: A New Mission**_

_**Part 4**_

_**************** Future War *****************_

_...It had happened, the "Future War"...the conflict between humankind and the machines, and it had been going on for years. Billions of lives had been lost, not only from the fire-storms which had ensued, but also from what had come after...Radiation sickness, disease and starvation had killed millions more. We'd even turned against each other and they (the Machines), were happy to let us finish doing their dirty work by killing ourselves. _

_Still, that had not happened. We'd begun to strengthen, to work together. Unity was being restored among the peoples of the world. However, Skynet did not consider this a good thing, and it could not be allowed. _

_There were very few people who actually knew who was responsible for the world's destruction. Some blamed the other side. It wasn't until certain survivors began to tell what they knew that humanity began to learn the truth (the Machines had started it). Nonetheless, it seemed like science-fiction to some, and they were not convinced. They could hardly accept the reality that something we'd built, something that we controlled, could turn on us...try to wipe us out. Nonetheless, when the terminators began marching through the streets of our cities, towns and countryside, the people who were in denial grew to face that reality. They knew __**who**__, or "__**what**__" rather, was to blame for our darkened skies, crumbled cities and for the ash which covered terra-firma._

_*************** Elliott Randsen *************_

The little guy spoke...

"I'm Will and he's Draven. We met up a couple days ago after I had a tangle with a terminator. I got away and Draven here found me and helped me out."

The bigger guy, Draven, set Will down onto a pile of stone and rubble. The little guy began to rub his leg. He paused and grimaced. A surge of pain was rising up through his right leg. In a bit it passed, and then he continued...

"Now we're trying to find our way to the Resistance. I think my sister Elizabeth is there."

John Conner considered that what he was saying seemed plausible. Will looked to be a civi, and there was no reason for him to lie. Fact was that he needed medical attention.

Conner looked over at Draven.

"What's your story?"

The man in uniform hesitated. He wasn't used to revealing his backstory. Especially to someone he knew so little about.

"I'm from the south."

"The South...?"

"Yes. The Deep-South...Southern Gulf Unit."

John pondered this.

"So, what are you doing here?"

"I was sent by Command. I have Intel that I'm supposed to deliver to the Pacific Authority."

Conner questioned this...

"OK, why not send it encoded?"

"Too risky...It needs to be conveyed in person."

"What is it?"

The fellow looked a bit irritated.

"I can only divulge that to a high ranking official."

It made sense. John decided not to press the issue. Besides, what did they know about him? He really hadn't told then anything about himself.

Will quizzed the Tech Commander.

"Are you a doctor...?"

"A doctor..?"

"Yeah...you have ER initialed on your shirt."

John smiled.

"It's Elliott Randsen, my name. And no, I'm not a doctor. However, I do know a bad injury when I see one. Let me take a look at that leg."

Will lifted his shredded pants leg over his knee. He unwrapped the bloody bandage from around it and John could see a deep wound crossing his shin. It was bad, but with a little care it was treatable. However, the first thing needing to be done was to have the bandage replaced.

"Let's get that rotten covering completely off," John said.

Once removed, the Tech Officer looked around searching for something to replace it. And then he spotted Draven.

"You, I need that sand-T (undershirt). Remove it and hand it over."

The big guy wavered at first, but then he did as instructed.

Conner ripped the shirt apart and then wrapped Will's leg with the cloth. It was a little dirty, but it was much better then what he'd had on before. And, it wasn't soaked in blood.

"There, that should hold you until we reached the salient point."

John looked over at Draven and then he returned his attention to Will.

"You sit tight, I need to talk to Draven a minute," he said.

Conner stood and then he addressed the big guy.

"Draven, come with me."

_*************** Making A Point ************* **_

John, or in this case, Elliott, and Draven moved off around the edge of the rubble pile, just feet away from Will and out of sight. John looked at the southern soldier.

"*****Eto polokho, yego noga. Yesli my ne poluchim yego pomoshch'v blizhaysheye vremya, on mozhet poteryat' yeye," (*****_It's bad...his leg. If we don't get him help soon he could lose it_)," John tried his best Russian.

"*****Kak blizlo my k sekretnomu vkhodu v tunnel'(*****_How close are we to the secret tunnel entrance_),Draven answered with a question?

"*****Nous avons encore un chemin(*We still have a ways yet), John replied in French. And then he added in English...

"Not that you'll ever see it."

And with that, Conner pulled his plasma pistol. He aimed it right at the big man's forehead. He pulled the trigger.

Draven's body hit the ground hard, like a ton of bricks. The noise was heard by Will and the smaller man immediately began to squeak.

"What happened? What the hell is going on over there?"

John rounded the corner, his plasma weapon still in his grasp. He walked up and stood in front of the civilian.

"I just wasted your friend," he said.

End Part 4


End file.
